How does adding a representation of self to a virtual learning experience change the roles of teachers and learners?
In “The Use of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Learning Sciences: Digital Transformations of Teachers, Students, and Social Context,” Immersive Learning Simulations are described as virtual environments that “perceptually surround the user; increasing his or her sense of presence or actually being within it.” An Immersive Learning Simulation (ILS) allows a learner or student to take on the first-person role of a character in a learning environment, enhancing for the student the psychologically prominent sensory information within the virtual environment (Bailenson, Yee, Blascovich, Beall, Lundblad, Jin 2008).
In such an environment, students take a front row seat to learning much like they do in the physical world. As in a real-life learning situation, students taking part in an ILS have the ability to interact with people, objects, and places in their learning environments. Laurence Johnson and Alan Levine describe an ILS environment in "Virtual Worlds" Inherently Immersive, Highly Social Learning Spaces" as a place in which "friendships, communities, and even societies and cultures can emerge, and the overall effect can become analogous to or an extension of experiences participants have in the real world" (2008).
Students and teachers participating in an ILS represent themselves with virtual avatars, human or non-human characters that respond to the users' commands and embody the users in an online learning environment. In his study, "The Benefits of Interactive Online Characters," Byron Reeves describes the benefits of using avatars in an ILS: 1. Interactive characters provide online learning outlets with a level of social intelligence. 2. Interactive avatars simulate social exchanges, and enhancing the environments with avatars leads to increased memory and information absorption on behalf of the users. 3. The interactivity of the characters leads to an increased realism and an improved value of the learning and interaction (2004).
Adding to an enhanced learning situation, avatars also allow students and teachers the ability to represent themselves the way they feel most comfortable. In an ILS like Second Life that gives users the ability to depict themselves as human characters, self-representations may be influenced by positive or negative social attitudes.
In “Avoidance and Attraction in Virtual Worlds: The Impact of Affiliative Tendency on Collaboration,” Paul Wallace explains that ILS participants often pick — or design — avatars similar to themselves: “Users of 3D virtual worlds tend to select avatars for self representation that match their own physical features…and those matching their own eye and hair color and gender. It has also been found that the selection of an avatar most often matches the cultural affiliations, race and ethnicity of the user.” Wallace additionally explains that, in some cases, users choose avatars different from themselves — particularly in ethnicity — because prejudice exists in online learning environments (2009).
When students select or design the avatars that represent them, they add another dimension to an online learning environment. However, that dimension remains a shaky one when students work together in an ILS, and despite conducting a study examining the sociability of human avatars, Wallace suggests that further research should be conducted on the social attitudes students hold toward their classmates’ avatars (2009).
The roles of students in an ILS are different from those in a traditional classroom, because in an online environment, students can be who they want to be. Whether they are more comfortable in their own virtual “skin” or that of another, students may be more productive in an environment in which they feel they fit in.
From a teaching standpoint, Jennifer De Vries explains that, to be effective ILS instructors, teachers should assume one of three character roles or avatar styles as described in “What Works: The Use of Character Based Simulations in E-learning”: 1. Expert instructor – modeled after a knowledgeable human to gain respect from students; appears as a teacher, doctor, lawyer, etc. 2. Peer instructor – looks similar to a student; achieves immediate social connection while instructing students. 3. Cooperative Co-learner – looks similar to a student; encourages and supports students while learning alongside them.
For teachers, designing or choosing an avatar in an ILS is an important task, De Vries continues, noting that well-designed characters and the social roles that accompany them allow teachers to relate to, interact with, and support students, creating learning environments that provide teachers and students with effective learning outcomes (2004).
The roles of teachers in an ILS are similar to those of teachers in real-life classrooms — authoritative, knowledgeable, supportive, and encouraging — but in an online learning environment, teachers can assume student-like avatars if they so choose, helping them form social bonds more easily with their students (De Vries 2004).
In an ILS, self-representations are limited by the avatar selections and capabilities available in a given online learning environment. According to Bailenson, Yee, Blascovich, Beall, Lundblad, and Jin, ILS technology still has “quite a long way to go before the photographic realism and behavioral realism (i.e., gestures, intonations, facial expressions) of avatars in [ILSs] approach the realism of actual people.” Despite their familiarity with online learning environments, students and teachers may still have difficulties communicating with each other as effectively as they do in face-to-face interactions due to the physical and behavioral limitations of ILSs (2008).
With the limitations, ILSs experience the same detractions that technology like instant messaging experienced in its introductory period. Robert Farmer listed the potential for distraction, unauthorized use, and slang use among the detractions faced by instant messaging in “Instant Messaging: IM Online! R U?” The stimulating environment of an ILS may distract students when they are supposed to be paying attention to a lecture or working with classmates on a project within the online simulation, and students may develop their own slang terms while working in an ILS. However, because students are immersing themselves in a highly interactive environment, one may argue that such distractions can be construed as additional learning opportunities (2005).
Works Cited Bailenson, Jeremy, Nick Yee, Jim Blascovich, Andrew Beall, Nicole Lundblad, and Michael Jin. "The Use of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Learning Sciences: Digital Transformations of Teachers, Students, and Social Context." Journal of the Learning Sciences 17.1 (2008): 102-41. Print.
De Vries, Jennifer. "What Works: The Use of Character-Based Simulations in E-learning." Bersin & Associates (2004). Print.
Johnson, Laurence, and Alan Levine. "Virtual Worlds: Inherently Immersive, Highly Social Learning Spaces." Theory Into Practice 47.2 (2008): 161-70. Print.
Reeves, Byron. "The Benefits of Interactive Online Characters." The Center for the Study of Language and Information (2004). Print.
Wallace, Paul. "Avoidance and Attraction in Virtual Worlds: The Impact of Affiliative Tendency on Collaboration." The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society 5.3 (2009): 119-26. Print.
In “The Use of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Learning Sciences: Digital Transformations of Teachers, Students, and Social Context,” Immersive Learning Simulations are described as virtual environments that “perceptually surround the user; increasing his or her sense of presence or actually being within it.” An Immersive Learning Simulation (ILS) allows a learner or student to take on the first-person role of a character in a learning environment, enhancing for the student the psychologically prominent sensory information within the virtual environment (Bailenson, Yee, Blascovich, Beall, Lundblad, Jin 2008).
In such an environment, students take a front row seat to learning much like they do in the physical world. As in a real-life learning situation, students taking part in an ILS have the ability to interact with people, objects, and places in their learning environments. Laurence Johnson and Alan Levine describe an ILS environment in "Virtual Worlds" Inherently Immersive, Highly Social Learning Spaces" as a place in which "friendships, communities, and even societies and cultures can emerge, and the overall effect can become analogous to or an extension of experiences participants have in the real world" (2008).
Students and teachers participating in an ILS represent themselves with virtual avatars, human or non-human characters that respond to the users' commands and embody the users in an online learning environment. In his study, "The Benefits of Interactive Online Characters," Byron Reeves describes the benefits of using avatars in an ILS:
1. Interactive characters provide online learning outlets with a level of social intelligence.
2. Interactive avatars simulate social exchanges, and enhancing the environments with avatars leads to increased memory and information absorption on behalf of the users.
3. The interactivity of the characters leads to an increased realism and an improved value of the learning and interaction (2004).
Adding to an enhanced learning situation, avatars also allow students and teachers the ability to represent themselves the way they feel most comfortable. In an ILS like Second Life that gives users the ability to depict themselves as human characters, self-representations may be influenced by positive or negative social attitudes.
In “Avoidance and Attraction in Virtual Worlds: The Impact of Affiliative Tendency on Collaboration,” Paul Wallace explains that ILS participants often pick — or design — avatars similar to themselves: “Users of 3D virtual worlds tend to select avatars for self representation that match their own physical features…and those matching their own eye and hair color and gender. It has also been found that the selection of an avatar most often matches the cultural affiliations, race and ethnicity of the user.” Wallace additionally explains that, in some cases, users choose avatars different from themselves — particularly in ethnicity — because prejudice exists in online learning environments (2009).
When students select or design the avatars that represent them, they add another dimension to an online learning environment. However, that dimension remains a shaky one when students work together in an ILS, and despite conducting a study examining the sociability of human avatars, Wallace suggests that further research should be conducted on the social attitudes students hold toward their classmates’ avatars (2009).
The roles of students in an ILS are different from those in a traditional classroom, because in an online environment, students can be who they want to be. Whether they are more comfortable in their own virtual “skin” or that of another, students may be more productive in an environment in which they feel they fit in.
From a teaching standpoint, Jennifer De Vries explains that, to be effective ILS instructors, teachers should assume one of three character roles or avatar styles as described in “What Works: The Use of Character Based Simulations in E-learning”:
1. Expert instructor – modeled after a knowledgeable human to gain respect from students; appears as a teacher, doctor, lawyer, etc.
2. Peer instructor – looks similar to a student; achieves immediate social connection while instructing students.
3. Cooperative Co-learner – looks similar to a student; encourages and supports students while learning alongside them.
For teachers, designing or choosing an avatar in an ILS is an important task, De Vries continues, noting that well-designed characters and the social roles that accompany them allow teachers to relate to, interact with, and support students, creating learning environments that provide teachers and students with effective learning outcomes (2004).
The roles of teachers in an ILS are similar to those of teachers in real-life classrooms — authoritative, knowledgeable, supportive, and encouraging — but in an online learning environment, teachers can assume student-like avatars if they so choose, helping them form social bonds more easily with their students (De Vries 2004).
In an ILS, self-representations are limited by the avatar selections and capabilities available in a given online learning environment. According to Bailenson, Yee, Blascovich, Beall, Lundblad, and Jin, ILS technology still has “quite a long way to go before the photographic realism and behavioral realism (i.e., gestures, intonations, facial expressions) of avatars in [ILSs] approach the realism of actual people.” Despite their familiarity with online learning environments, students and teachers may still have difficulties communicating with each other as effectively as they do in face-to-face interactions due to the physical and behavioral limitations of ILSs (2008).
With the limitations, ILSs experience the same detractions that technology like instant messaging experienced in its introductory period. Robert Farmer listed the potential for distraction, unauthorized use, and slang use among the detractions faced by instant messaging in “Instant Messaging: IM Online! R U?” The stimulating environment of an ILS may distract students when they are supposed to be paying attention to a lecture or working with classmates on a project within the online simulation, and students may develop their own slang terms while working in an ILS. However, because students are immersing themselves in a highly interactive environment, one may argue that such distractions can be construed as additional learning opportunities (2005).
Works Cited
Bailenson, Jeremy, Nick Yee, Jim Blascovich, Andrew Beall, Nicole Lundblad, and Michael Jin. "The Use of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Learning Sciences: Digital Transformations of Teachers, Students, and Social Context." Journal of the Learning Sciences 17.1 (2008): 102-41. Print.
De Vries, Jennifer. "What Works: The Use of Character-Based Simulations in E-learning." Bersin & Associates (2004). Print.
Farmer, Robert. "Instant Messaging: IM Online! RU?" EDUCAUSE Review 40.6 (2005): 48-63. Print.
Johnson, Laurence, and Alan Levine. "Virtual Worlds: Inherently Immersive, Highly Social Learning Spaces." Theory Into Practice 47.2 (2008): 161-70. Print.
Reeves, Byron. "The Benefits of Interactive Online Characters." The Center for the Study of Language and Information (2004). Print.
"VHIL: Projects." VHIL: Virtual Human Interaction Lab - Stanford University. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://vhil.stanford.edu/projects/index.html#tsi>.
Wallace, Paul. "Avoidance and Attraction in Virtual Worlds: The Impact of Affiliative Tendency on Collaboration." The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society 5.3 (2009): 119-26. Print.